The Revolution players showed their appreciation of the fans both before and after the last game of the season on Sunday by taking selfies, handout out cleats, signing autographs and after the game, for a few lucky season ticket holders, giving away their game worn jerseys.

Days after his team’s playoff hopes officially met their demise in Sunday’s regular season finale, Revolution midfielder Kelyn Rowe was still bitter about the way the season unfolded.

Rowe, who was a significant part of the Revolution’s three-straight postseason berths from 2013-2015, took a dejected tone during the team’s final media scrum of the season on Thursday.

“It’s a feeling that no one likes,” Rowe told the media on Thursday. “I don’t want to feel this feeling again, because it’s almost like the season’s just been nothing, it’s for nothing, all the hard work we’ve put in is for nothing.”

Of course, missing the postseason isn’t new development for Rowe. The former first round pick was a part of the 2012 squad that missed the playoffs by a wide margin during what was, by all accounts, a rebuilding year with Jay Heaps taking the reins the previous winter.

But this season had little in common during Rowe’s rookie campaign. The Revolution were supposed to be contenders in 2016. They were supposed to be among the top sides in the Eastern Conference with Rowe, Diego Fagundez, Juan Agudelo and Lee Nguyen in tow. The midseason addition of Kei Kamara did nothing to temper those expectations.

New England’s arch-nemesis proved to be consistency, especially in the rear. The club spent much of the season at the top of the goals allowed charts.

Converted center back Andrew Farrell returned to his original right back spot after it became obvious he and Jose Goncalves weren’t gelling after a season-and-half together in the heart of the defense. Instability between the sticks – where Bobby Shuttleworth and Brad Knighton shared minutes – left the club without a true no. 1.

“We obviously felt like we underachieved our potential,” Nguyen told the media on Thursday. “Obviously, again, now watching the teams in the playoffs, it hurts a little bit, because we feel like we should be there, but we didn’t do enough early on in the season to give us a chance.”

It wasn’t just the early part of the season that doomed the Revolution. After it took five games to clinch their first win of the season, the club suffered not one, but two six-game winless streaks before finally catching their form in September.

“We can’t go on streaks like that,” Nguyen said. “The summers have been what has killed us, so we have got to focus on that. I think we have to come in with a mentality next year that, you know, we’re not just a team that’s going to compete to make it into the playoffs.”

If those sentiments sound eerily similar to last year’s offseason assessments, it’s because the Revolution still can’t seem to escape the clenches of the summertime swoon. And while the players are fully aware of the problem, it is, ultimately, the job of the coaching staff to keep the squad from repeating the same mistakes.

Heaps will be back for 2017, per a report from the Boston Globe. But unless the squad puts the skids on a regression that’s spanned the last two seasons, it might be his final year at the helm.

In the meantime, players like Nguyen and Rowe are wholly focused on a strong offseason if only to avoid another autumn without a playoff game to prepare for.

“I’m going to come back as good as I can and as fit as I can,” Rowe said, “because this offseason is going to be too long for me mentally, and I can’t wait to get back.”

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Although the New England Revolution’s late-season rally left them short of the Eastern Conference playoffs based on a tiebreaker, one of the bright spots down the stretch was the return to form of Diego Fagundez.

The 21-year-old from Leominster, Mass. still has yet to match his breakout performance in 2013, when he tallied 13 goals and seven assists and earned the club’s season MVP award. However, with a scintillating final seven games – which aligned with the Revs’ 5-2-0 record in September and October – Fagundez finished third on the team in both goals and assists, with six apiece.

On Sunday, in New England’s 3-0 victory over the Montreal Impact in the regular season finale, Fagundez factored in heavily in a dominant 25-shot offensive performance, sparking the squad with a 13th-minute free kick golazo.

“I’ve practiced my whole life doing that,” Fagundez said. “It was between me and Lee (Nguyen), and I told him that if I got it then we’ll score, and he let me get that chance… It’s one of those things that you share moments in the game.”

With Montreal perhaps surprised that Fagundez got the call on a dead ball situation at the left edge of the box, he was able to find an open lane to curl his volley around the defense, off the right post and in to give the Revs a 1-0 lead.

“He knows what I can do on free kicks,” Fagundez said of Nguyen’s deference. “We know how good we are, and we always work hard in training, so whoever’s taking it, we’re going to be good for each other and support each other.”

If the scoring finished then, Fagundez would have tied Nguyen, Juan Agudelo and Kei Kamara for the team’s scoring lead, however, the latter two both scored in the second half. In the 71st minute, Fagundez found open space in the center of the field to accept a centering ball from Nguyen and generously moved it on to Kamara for an open look at goal, rewarding the forward for a high-energy game.

“This game I think everybody was passing, moving and we definitely broke them down and once we got our first, it opened up a lot more,” Fagundez said.

“It’s one of those games where we have nothing to lose, but we still have a little more to fight and make sure we left here with a nice bang,” he added.

During the course of the Revolution’s late-season playoff push, Fagundez had a goal or assist in five of the final seven games, racking up three goals and four assists during that span. That meant he factored in on 47 percent of the team’s goals during that time, a stat only matched by Juan Agudelo, who tallied four goals and three assists.

It would be fair to level some of the blame for the Revolution’s first playoff absence since 2012 on Fagundez, who is supposed to be an ascendant player.

After all, Fagundez looked headed for his weakest season since reaching adulthood, with a paltry three goals and two assists through the first 27 games. That included a frustrating 17-game stretch from May through August in which he did not score or assist on a single Revolution goal.

Instead, the Revs can look now at this season as a step in the right direction, as Fagundez played all 34 games for the first time and finished with his second-best career totals in goals, assists, minutes played (2,236) and shots (64).

Certainly, it’s important for Fagundez to show more consistency across an entire season – a reminder: he’s still just 21 – but his and Agudelo’s late-season performances give the Revolution a larger and more promising core group of players on the rise as they look to rebound in 2017.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – When the New England Revolution signed 23-year-old goalkeeper Cody Cropper on August 18, it seemed unlikely the young ‘keeper would see much action this season playing behind established veterans Brad Knighton and Bobby Shuttleworth. A disappointing set of circumstances aligned in the Revolution’s final regular season to give Cropper a chance to start and the former U.S. U-20 International made the most of it, keeping a shutout behind some impressive saves in helping the Revolution to a 3-0 win over the Montreal Impact.

“It’s something that I’ve been asking [head coach] Jay [Heaps] and [goalkeepers coach] Remi [Roy] for since the first day I got here, so it was kind of my want and I accomplished what I wanted and that was keeping a clean sheet,” said Cropper.

Cropper made a few appearances in the game day 18 for the Revolution, but had never seen any first team minutes. Knighton was suspended for the final match after picking up a red card last week, while with the Revolution having little to play for in their final regular season match having been all, but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, it made sense to give the younger ‘keeper a start over veteran Shuttleworth who had lost the starting role earlier in the season.

“He’s young and he hasn’t played in a couple months in terms of games, but he’s been training really well,” said Heaps. “[I was] excited to give him kind of his first taste of MLS and a big stage like it was tonight, a lot of fans I thought he did a good job. The first half was a little bit feeling it all out; feeling when he should come, when he shouldn’t come, but the second half he was a completely different player, he found himself. I was happy that we were able to do that. That’s why you play a guy like that in this moment, to get him that kind of experience.”

Cropper, who was given the start after Knighton was red carded in the team’s last game and with the team having been all but eliminated from the postseason, had a relatively quiet first half, but was called on to make two difficult saves in the second half.

“[His performance] was good,” said defender Jose Goncalves. “He was excellent. His first game, it’s not easy, but I think he did well. He was calm and that’s good for him, good for the future.”

Less than three minutes into the second half an Impact corner kick was deflected out to David Choiniere at the top of the box. Choiniere blasted a shot through a crowded box on frame that Cropper managed to push out without much time to react.

“It felt really good actually,” said Cropper of the save. “A lot of what I had to do in the first half was all with my feet, trying to just kind of just stay mentally tuned in. It was hard because there was not a lot to do, but that first shot came in and I kind of just in my head went into the second half going ‘I’m going to have to make a save here sooner or later’ and I just pushed it away and that got me going, that got the team going and it was good.”

Nine minutes later Cropper made another big save to keep the shutout. This time Danny Toia found space on the right flank and sent a cross in to Anthony Hamel-Jackson, who volleyed a shot on frame. His effort lacked power, but was well placed to the lower corner and forced Cropper to make a diving save to push it wide.

“He was great,” said defender Andrew Farrell. “He made the two big saves that were probably going to be in the goal. He made good distribution and everything was great. He was vocal.”

Cropper’s debut was made even sweeter coming in front of the largest announced Revolution home crowd of the season: 39,587.

“It was absolutely brilliant,” said Cropper. “The support was good throughout the entire game. Going into it we kind of knew that there were going to be 25-30,000+ and it makes it a little bit easier going in and playing in front of a bigger crowd than a smaller crowd, it gets the adrenaline pumping, so it felt really good.”

Now Cropper’s performance leaves the Revolution with some difficult offseason decisions to make at his position. With both Minnesota and Atlanta—Cropper’s home town—joining the league next season, the Revolution will have to decide which ‘keepers to expose in the upcoming expansion draft. Neither Knighton nor Shuttleworth were able to lockdown the starting role during the season leaving an opening for Cropper, who had spent his entire professional career in England prior to joining the Revolution, to potentially step in next season.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – With little else to play for besides pride, the New England Revolution authored a lively performance that allowed them to grab a 3-0 victory against the playoff-bound Montreal Impact in Sunday’s regular season finale at Gillette Stadium.

Diego Fagundez opened the scoring inside of the 13 minutes on a free kick blast from just outside the area to give the Revolution a lead they did not relinquish. Juan Agudelo made it a two-goal margin in the 60th minute when he ran at goal and let it fly before it found the back of the net. Kei Kamara, who entered the game with five goals in his last three games vs. Montreal this year, capped the scoring in the 71st minute.

A week after they were effectively eliminated by virtue of their defeat to the Fire, the Revolution were officially denied of a playoff spot at the conclusion on Sunday’s match. They entered their clash against the Impact needing to make up a 12-goal deficit on goal differential to break a tie with the sixth-place Philadelphia Union. With Philadelphia’s 2-0 loss at New York Red Bulls, the gap was narrowed to seven.

Mid-season acquisition Cody Cropper got his first start of the season between the sticks and made three stops in his Revolution debut. He made a YouTube-worthy save in the 48th minute when adroitly leaped to his left to deny a David Choiniere shot from distance.

Cropper is the first Revolution keeper to wear the no. 1 shirt since club legend Matt Reis, who retired following the 2013 season.

New England had no fewer than four chances to narrow the goal differential gap even further if it wasn’t for the woodwork. Kamara, Agudelo, Fagundez and Scott Caldwell all fired shots that beat Evan Bush before hitting the post or crossbar.

Sunday’s match did not end before a Homegrown switch was made in stoppage time as Zachary Herivaux came on to spell Fagundez seconds before the final whistle.

With the win, the Revolution finish the season in seventh-place with an 11-14-9 (42 points) record, but fell short of the postseason for the first time since 2012.

Boston City FC bolstered its squad in a big way on Friday by signing reigning NPSL golden boot winner Isaac “Nana” Addai.

Addai, who scored a league-high 18 goals in 15 games for Rhode Island Reds FC in 2016, inked a two-year deal with City, which wrapped up its debut season in July.

“I think we can be an even better team this coming season, and I think we can win the NPSL,” said Addai in a team release on Friday. “The times I played against Boston City last season, I was a little intimidated by the fans, who made so much noise at games, so now I’m glad to be part of their family.”

Boston coach Palhinha, who guided his club to a second-place finish in the NPSL Northeast Atlantic Conference, welcomed the addition of the 22-year-old goalscorer, who reportedly trialed with USL outfit Bethlehem Steel FC last spring.

“We are delighted to add Isaac to our squad and believe we will create plenty of opportunities for him to continue his proven ability to score goals,” Palhinha said in a team release on Friday. “There were times last season when, despite the success of qualifying for the playoffs, we missed clear opportunities to score goals and we believe Isaac can provide a solution for our team in that area.”

Prior to joining the Reds in 2016, Addai suited up for the Rhode Island Oceaneers of the ASL.

The Liberian international said he is eager to extend the success he enjoyed in 2016 with Boston in 2017 and beyond.

“I want to improve my game,” Addai said, “and I can learn from coach Palhinha to create even more goal scoring opportunities.”

The New England Revolution needed a win and some help on Sunday to keep a realistic hope of a playoff spot alive. The Revolution got the help they needed from other results, but couldn’t take care of business themselves, falling 2-1 to the last place Chicago Fire at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.

In game number 33 of the regular season, it was some preseason-esque defending by the Revolution that proved costly. In just the ninth minute the Revolution defense left Brandon Vincent with tons of space on the wing and Michael de Leeuw wide open in the box, allowing the two to combine for an easy goal. The Revolution would pull one back just before halftime through Diego Fagundez and then looked in good shape after gaining a man advantage when Luis Solignac was ejected.

But it was more basic defensive errors that cost the team when goalkeeper Brad Knigton was caught unaware with the ball at his feet with David Accam approaching, and was sent off when he was forced to foul Accam in the 73rd minute. Seven minutes later Andrew Farrell and Jose Goncalves poorly defended Accam, allowing him an easy breakaway off of a long ball, leading to the Fire’s winning goal.

The result, combined with other results around the league, means the Revolution were not mathematically eliminated, but would need an extremely unrealistic combination of defeating the Montreal Impact next weekend in Foxboro and Philadelphia losing at home to the New York Red Bulls, while also making up a 12 goal deficit in goal differential to grab the last playoff spot.

The Revolution got off to a poor start and just nine minutes in some extremely sloppy defending saw the Fire take the lead. Accam found Vincent with acres of space on the left flank and the rookie left back sent a low cross into the box where a completely unmarked de Leeuw easily slotted it past Knighton from close range.

Only some big saves from Knighton managed to keep the Revolution in the game. Knighton denied Accam in the 18th minute after he easily sliced his way through the Revolution defense. Knighton then denied Arturo Alvarez in the 41st minute with a fantastic saved after Accam again easily got through the Revolution defense to set-up Alvarez.

Fagundez and Lee Nguyen managed a couple shots on frame for the Revolution, but they were poorly placed and easily saved by Sean Johnson.

New England caught a break in the 43rd minute when Johnson poorly played the ball out, leading to a turnover in a dangerous position. Juan Agudelo made the interception, ran into the box and found Nguyen. The ball was quickly tackled away from Nguyen, but fell to Fagundez, whose long range shot was deflected and beat Johnson just inside the near post.

The Revolution were given another boost in the 54th minute when Luis Solignac was ejected for an off the ball foul on London Woodberry.

Eight minutes later, New England should’ve taken the lead when a low cross from Nguyen, following a short corner, was directed towards goal in the 62nd minute by Agudelo from close range. Agudelo’s shot hit the cross bar, but fell right to Darrius Barnes inches from net. Barnes’ header, however, was right into the hands of Johnson.

Farrell played the role of hero in the 66th minute when the Revolution were caught out on a corner kick. The ball looked to be falling to a wide open de Leeuw for an easy finish, but Farrell slid in and cleared the ball out for another corner.

The sides were made even at 10 men apiece in the 73rd minute when Knighton was caught with the ball by Accam and tripped up the attacked. Knighton saw straight red for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Bobby Shuttleworth was subbed on for Barnes and replaced Knighton in net.

Shuttleworth then came up big to keep the Revolution alive four minutes later, denying a dangerous header from Joao Meira.

Shuttleworth could do nothing in the 80th minute, however, when some more awful defending from the Revolution let Accam sneak behind the defense on a long ball and run in alone on goal. The dangerous attacked made no mistake and slotted it past Shuttleworth to put the home side in the lead.

Chicago nearly made it a two goal lead in the 90th minute when a low cross found Accam on the goal line with an open net. Somehow the spin saw the ball deflect off Accam and go over the net.

The Revolution finish the season at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, October 23, against the Montreal Impact.